Regional basketball sites for Classes 5A-6A officially released by the OSSAA

Girls games start on Feb. 23; boys games take place the following night

By Michael Kinney 

Photo of Norman vs. Edmond North girls

With the start of the Class 6A and 5A postseason two weeks away, the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) released its brackets Thursday afternoon.

While players and coaches knew their fates already, the bracket release makes their path to the state tournament official.

The 6A boys regional sites in the West include defending champion Edmond North, Lawton High, Norman High and Westmoore High. In the East, it is Broken Arrow, Booker T. Washington, Bixby and Putnam City North.

Each host team is scheduled to play at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24. The opening first-round contest will start at 6 p.m.

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The most interesting first-round matches feature teams that have played each other already this season.

Owasso and Bartlesville faced off in late January, with the Rams pulling out a 54-51 victory. The two will face off in an elimination game to open the Booker T. Washington regional.

In the West, Edmond schools Deer Creek and Santa Fe have tangled twice this season, with the Antlers coming out on top both times. That is highlighted by a 59-58 contest in December.

However, the two teams have one more regular season game scheduled on Feb. 14 at Deer Creek. Then, the two teams will open the Westmoore regional on Feb. 24.

A few schools will be playing double duty as they host both a boys and girls regional tournament. They feature Booker T. Washington, Norman, Bixby and defending champion Edmond North.

The rest of the class 6A girls regional sites include Putnam City West, Edmond Memorial, Midwest City and Choctaw.

Each host team is scheduled to play at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23. The opening first-round contest will start at 6 p.m.

The matchup between No. 8 Jenks and No. 9 Ponca City - tipping off the Booker T. Washington regional - has the potential to be the most interesting in the first round. The teams have not faced off with each other this year and are separated by one game.

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In Class 5A, the girls regional host sites in the East are Sapulpa, Tulsa Will Rogers, Holland Hall and Tahlequah. The West is comprised of Midwest City Carl Albert, Lawton MacArthur, El Reno and Piedmont.

One of the first-round matches includes a rematch between Shawnee and Bishop Kelley. The two faced off in early December at the Bishop Kelley Invitational, and Shawnee came away with a low-scoring 37-30 win.

On the boys side of the 5A bracket, the hosts are Tulsa Memorial, Nathan Hale, Holland Hall, Edison Prep, Carl Albert, Oklahoma City Southeast, El Reno and Del City.

The regional championship games are scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 25. The girls will play at 2 p.m., and the boys will take the court at 7 p.m.

In addition, the winner and loser from each regional championship games will both advance to the area tournament, which will start the following week.